A source familiar with the prime minister’s itinerary said Carney will be forced to miss this month’s international climate negotiations because of “domestic obligations.”
November 5th, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former climate finance envoy to the United Nations (UN), will miss the upcoming COP30 global climate summit in Brazil, iPolitics has learned.
Carney has travelled overseas several times over the last few months, including a recent trip to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, but will be forced to miss COP30 because of “domestic obligations,” according to a source familiar with the prime minister’s itinerary who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely.
The two-week summit is scheduled to open next Monday before concluding on Nov. 21.
The source noted that Carney will be in the nation’s capital next week to commemorate Remembrance Day.
Instead, the Canadian delegation will be led by Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin and Canadian Identity Minister Steven Guilbeault, the latter of whom has been a fixture of international climate negotiations in recent years.
The federal government is scheduled to hold a briefing for reporters tomorrow morning, where officials will outline Canada’s priorities heading into the event.
COP (conference of parties) summits are the world’s largest meetings between international leaders exclusively devoted to various climate-related issues, including greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel production. They are organized annually by the UN’s climate branch, with this year’s iteration being hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula invited Carney to attend the event during a phone call between the two leaders in June and, according to a press release from the Brazilian government, the prime minister accepted the invitation.
“Next week at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Canadian Identity and Culture are looking forward to advancing Canada’s commitment to reducing emissions, strengthening our economy with more competitive industries, and addressing the global climate crisis,” said Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for Carney, in a statement.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau missed the last three COP conferences, most recently attending COP26 in Glasgow, U.K.
Carney had previously attended COP events, both in his capacity as UN special envoy and governor of the Bank of England.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are among the world leaders reportedly attending the event.
The prime minister’s absence comes as he faces backlash from many environmentalists over his government’s new climate competitiveness strategy, which reverses anti-‘greenwashing’ provisions directed at fossil fuel companies and outlines a plan to move away from a proposed cap on oil and gas emissions.
Instead, the strategy reaffirmed the government’s commitment to industrial carbon pricing and expanded pre-existing investment tax credits for green manufacturing, as well as carbon capture and storage.
Earlier this year, Keith Brooks, the programs director at Environmental Defence, told iPolitics in an interview that it “would be important” for Carney to attend COP30.
“It’s the 10-year anniversary of the Paris Accord and it’s an important COP for locking in targets and ambition for the next five- or 10-year period,” he said.
“We feel that ambition around climate change is softening…, and this [would be] an opportunity for the prime minister to lay out clearly that he is committed to fighting climate change and committed to participating in these global processes.”
www.ipolitics.ca
November 5th, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former climate finance envoy to the United Nations (UN), will miss the upcoming COP30 global climate summit in Brazil, iPolitics has learned.
Carney has travelled overseas several times over the last few months, including a recent trip to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit, but will be forced to miss COP30 because of “domestic obligations,” according to a source familiar with the prime minister’s itinerary who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely.
The two-week summit is scheduled to open next Monday before concluding on Nov. 21.
The source noted that Carney will be in the nation’s capital next week to commemorate Remembrance Day.
Instead, the Canadian delegation will be led by Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin and Canadian Identity Minister Steven Guilbeault, the latter of whom has been a fixture of international climate negotiations in recent years.
The federal government is scheduled to hold a briefing for reporters tomorrow morning, where officials will outline Canada’s priorities heading into the event.
COP (conference of parties) summits are the world’s largest meetings between international leaders exclusively devoted to various climate-related issues, including greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel production. They are organized annually by the UN’s climate branch, with this year’s iteration being hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula invited Carney to attend the event during a phone call between the two leaders in June and, according to a press release from the Brazilian government, the prime minister accepted the invitation.
“Next week at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister for Canadian Identity and Culture are looking forward to advancing Canada’s commitment to reducing emissions, strengthening our economy with more competitive industries, and addressing the global climate crisis,” said Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for Carney, in a statement.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau missed the last three COP conferences, most recently attending COP26 in Glasgow, U.K.
Carney had previously attended COP events, both in his capacity as UN special envoy and governor of the Bank of England.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are among the world leaders reportedly attending the event.
The prime minister’s absence comes as he faces backlash from many environmentalists over his government’s new climate competitiveness strategy, which reverses anti-‘greenwashing’ provisions directed at fossil fuel companies and outlines a plan to move away from a proposed cap on oil and gas emissions.
Instead, the strategy reaffirmed the government’s commitment to industrial carbon pricing and expanded pre-existing investment tax credits for green manufacturing, as well as carbon capture and storage.
Earlier this year, Keith Brooks, the programs director at Environmental Defence, told iPolitics in an interview that it “would be important” for Carney to attend COP30.
“It’s the 10-year anniversary of the Paris Accord and it’s an important COP for locking in targets and ambition for the next five- or 10-year period,” he said.
“We feel that ambition around climate change is softening…, and this [would be] an opportunity for the prime minister to lay out clearly that he is committed to fighting climate change and committed to participating in these global processes.”
Mark Carney set to miss COP30 climate summit: sources
A source familiar with the prime minister's itinerary said Carney will be forced to miss this month's international climate negotiations because of "domestic obligations."
www.ipolitics.ca
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